The present invention relates to external guides for accurately directing an X-ray beam to an X-ray film in a film holder, during the process of taking intraoral periapical dental X-rays.
Currently, the technique for taking intraoral periapical dental X-rays entail the use of various bite tab film holders upon which the patient bites in order to immobilize or render the film intraorally stationary.
While a variety of bite tab film holders are used in the intraoral X-ray process, the so called SNAP-A-RAY holder is the most commonly used one in dental offices at present; however, the disadvantageous clinical drawbck of the SNAP-A-RAY holder is that, once the patient closes his mouth, it is very difficult to locate the exact position of the film.
Inability to accurately locate the film frequently leads to difficulties in direting the beam central to the film, and the attendant locative problems associated therewith result in X-rays characterized by the impediments of: (I) Cone cutting; (II) Elongation; (III) Foreshortening; (IV) Teeth apices not appearing in the pictures; (V) Teeth crowns not appearing in the pictures; and (VI) Gross overlapping of the teeth in the pictures.
The consequences of any one or more of the foregoing adversities are non-diagnostic periapical X-rays and the inevitable need to repeat the X-ray process, with the resultant multiple exposure of patients to additional radiation.